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I was just reading a book speaking and defending Christ and the Holy Bible versus a cult group. It is a common cult began around the 19th century and is still common to this day. It has got me wondering, do I love people around me?

I mean as in a person commanded by God, do I really care if I avoid witnessing? Too often is it easy to avoid something if one doesn’t come across teasing, spiritual attack at times, and even serious persecution. But the Lord has commanded us.

I think of so many people even ones I have contact with on a daily basis. Do I really love them if I avoid sharing during at least one moment Christ to them? It’s worth it even with all the name-calling and negative responses I might get.

In my country a lot of Christians avoid talking about God because its too easy but ones should think of this. Do you want all the people you don’t know if they know Jesus to go to hell? I think not!

If we don’t we should all love first… then pray and depend on the Holy Spirit as the Word will help us with the rest. Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness… it’s all good to the great God who is love.

This is totally unexpected for me which makes it kind of exciting. I put the title as this because I looked back and saw I didn’t call the last time I called this a devotion but did tag it as “holy word” so hopefully it will be linked to this in the suggestions below the article after one clicks it.

My church had one class that just ended and before it did we went over Acts 17 (we went from verse 16 to 27). I might not get to that part here because something came up while getting to read the earlier part. I have not read much of the bible so getting into it for the first time for myself was nice. I hope to go over these parts again and again during my personal devotions in the future as they will be as exciting as these times right now!

When you read the bible you always find something new. As you grow more you will find something else that you hadn’t noticed; it is evident you are growing more in the Lord as God also blesses you when you read His word.

So to get on, I just wanted to read the earlier part of this chapter in case I was unfamiliar with it. Then this devotion came about. SO here we go…!

Paul went through Amphipolis and Apollonia and ended up at a synagogue in Thessalonica. Then as his custom he spoke to them about the scriptures for three Sabbaths. (verse 3para.) explaining, Christ had to suffer, die and rose from the dead: “This Jesus whom I speak to you is the Christ.” (verse 4para.) Some responded and then a huge group of devout Greeks and more than few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.

But the Jews who had not responded in a positive way, had taken people from the marketplace, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason. They sought to bring the people out from there. But they could not find them so they dragged Jason and some of the brethren to the rulers of the city. They were mad that they had harbored the people who were against what they believed, they spoke of a king named Jesus and that was not their king Caesar. And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things spoken. (verse 9) So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

(finally, verse 10-15 para.) The brethren sent Paul and Silas by night to Berea. There they went to the synagogue at that location and the response there was blessed. They responded greatly, many examining the scriptures to see if what was said about those things were true. They reacted better than the ones who were at Thessalonica. Yet the people from Thessalonica heard this was happening in Berea, so they then went there and stirred up the crowds. So the brethren sent Paul to the sea while Timothy and Silas remained there in the land. So Paul was then conducted by a group to go to Athens. Then after a command Timothy and Silas would soon be headed there also.

It’s so sad when people get so stubborn or bent on “attacking” others over belief. Here in America it seems to happen all the time. People pull bibles out of school, take the Ten Commandments out of any governmental building, are outraged when God is mentioned just inside their comfort zones.

To many people it seems belief in God “stirs up” the feelings of people in response of sin. This is unresolved sin. We all have been enemies of God, easily grown by our own way separate from Him.

When all people want to argue on what they feel is the truth people get passionate but they can get the wrong kind of passion. This here seems to be a response by Satan. Every time truth was extolled, there were these people ready to pour in, stir up people to get them angry, and they were making trouble in the land; in this case did so in two places, at first in Thessalonica, then they travelled to continue this kind of anarchy into Berea.

God always helps the ones who want to serve and live for Him. While we see things here that might be discouraging to Paul, Silas, and the others serving for Christ we also see that they get refuge and are protected within all of it as well. It’s such a wonderful image.

If you want to serve Him, delve into a ministry. Surely you won’t like the barrage of the devil’s attacks but greater the wisdom in you as you trust in Christ, by His blood and be guided by His way. There is an amazing journey if you want to live by serving and also seeking for the kingdom of God, let His light shine in your heart and you will see.

I should not only think this as our church’s Missions Conference is coming up and it is to disciple but that is one commandment of God we sometimes neglect to think about.

We should as a church guide others spiritually to help mature the body but also to make servant disciples of Jesus Christ. It is God’s goal that His word be spread everywhere the one following Jesus will go for their mission so it must be so and intentionally done.

For too long I have felt like ones within the church. I kept letting feelings and insecurities hold me back, thinking that I lost Christ’s calling at least once every year but it is not true (it probably was a tactic from Satan to think that way).

And now I hope you desire if you spend time in His word when you can to do so for people of your church or join one to gain fellowship, guidance, and learning of what the bible tells of through the books of amazing stories. Talk to new people visiting and get to know them. Also share Christ with people that if spirit-led would be situations of opportunities presented by God’s will. He will give you chances, then people will by Christ’s power be saved!

I want to be one of many who want to share with each other as we are united by His blood and now share each others love and gifts within God’s family.

Be like a disciple-maker today!

Jesus said:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. ~Matthew 28, verse 19

I have too much of a busy schedule, it feels like to me. I am grateful to work but sometimes I can’t even rest. I’ve got work on the weekends and plus at church I couldn’t even stay because of duties so I had to up and exit the sanctuary. I hope this all doesn’t overwhelm me! Sigh*~

Hello. I hope you have had a relaxing Memorial Day of reflection as well as just time off to have fun and enjoy life.

You know sometimes we take it for granted this thing called life. We think we have all the time in the world so we turn to back things that we were rescued from and get ourselves stuck into the “pit” again and again.

What is the “pit” you wonder? It is the trap that we sometimes ensnare for ourselves. At first it is temptation leading to giving in to the sin. But if we are not serious about repentance, the telling to God that we are sorry and we turn away and will go back to Him, we get ourselves led back into falling again.

Falling and getting out. Repeat.

That struggle can be so discouraging. A person I know unfortunately has turned that way and ended up not in this world anymore. It’s sad to see someone that knew the truth be in a situation that they did not want to leave.

But our sin sometimes gets us in a loop.

I’ve been in that “loop” many times. Saying “I’m sorry God, forgive me…” then doing that deed again.

Sometimes we may get deeper, knowing that we shouldn’t but that want to turn from God is just too good, like a piece of your favorite dessert.

Then you partake and realize you are not satisfied. You can never be satisfied.

Yet it is so seemingly enjoyable to get into again… we’ll think maybe this time we will get it right and it will be so “good”!

But it never is. Why is that?

Because we live in a fallen world and we desire something but the thing that was our first want was to sin. After the fall of the world through one man who had the responsibility to say no there was sin that entered the world.

And sin is evil!

It is the world: it is all bad, it is fallen, the reason we have death and so much bad in this place here on earth.

But if you know Christ, should you keep heading down this path? As in getting into tons of stuff you shouldn’t?

Paul has said something about that. Should we keep sinning harshly just because we have a savior to turn to that will have God forgive us?

Yes or no?

What do you think?

I think that we are free to do what we want but if we want to serve God we have to realize we should make more decisions for the Lord.

That means though our sin nature fights it at times, we have to look to God in all circumstances if we want to serve Him.

A servant of Jesus should not be turning to ways of the world as a daily ritual. That makes our hearts unclean when they should be filled by the Holy Spirit.

That makes us less like a lover of Christ and more like a person of solitude because of sins.

Or a person that just wants to neglect all that God’s will has for them and will be provided to them.

That means not looking to other ways for truth and instead keeping your eyes on the mount and our feet firmly on solid ground. The ground of the Rock, the solid place of Jesus Christ.

We can continue on and live with prospering lives if we deny ourselves and seek His will. But God still does want us to make our own choices.

We don’t have to do that because God wants us to follow Him. There is no way but Jesus. God’s word says: Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

And Jesus made that way, did the penalty for us and our sin. He died on the cross, rose again, and lives in Heaven one day coming to do the final things this earth has yet to see.

Would you want your friends to fall into those days? I don’t think so. We should live as pure hearts of Jesus’ love, sacrifice our time, give our lives so that people would learn of the truth, and just be love to them.

Just showing love is the first step. How do you want to do it?

That is the one step where there is the undoing of sin. If your heart is clean because of forgiveness or because you show His love to others around you, what does that say to your life?

You are a new creation in Christ. Your old self died with Him on the cross. That person is now no longer a part of you… isn’t that exciting???

To have no more sin to account against you and make you dead to the world and to go to hell… because of Christ that is no longer a part of you.

Amen! We should share this news and love and mercy to others because He makes all things possible. And He will undo so much bad stuff in others lives as a result. It is His power. We must know that love can sweep it all away, move and change hearts, and give people a brand new purpose!

How sweet is that news?

Let’s as Christians (or if you are a new Christian or interested, message me on comments) see God undo the chains we sometimes let ourselves get shackled with and serve with lives pleasing to Him…

Am doing fairly well. Got a big dose of God’s leading and now there is the trust and giving to Him! 🙂

One of my favorite songs by Brian Wilson is “Love and Mercy.” It tells of how violence is in our culture, there is scary things going on in the news, and also people are isolating themselves and feeling alone.

It moves my heart to hear a song like this: to have love and even compassion. To reflect that kind of attitude and it happens to be from a great musical artist.

While I am not going to praise Brian I am only reflecting the fact that it is true that we sometimes we see awful things going on: there is homelessness, losing of jobs, violence, and even people who hurt. There are many in fact, all of us that yearn for something more in their lives.

Is how we feel towards them reflective of our hearts? How about if we yearn to live for God?

I got a dose of changing attitude this morning. At times I have felt like doing things for the Lord is like being holy or doing it for some kind of approval from God. Or something like that–

Sometimes I don’t know what I feel like, haha!

All I know is that to serve God with love and compassion toward others is done to only glorify God.

We as believers serve a righteous God but that does not make us righteous!

We as lovers in Christ only show love in Him because our sin was paid for by His blood.

We should only reflect His love but also show justice and mercy. I had wondered what that phrase meant too. Going home today I looked it up.

Justice and mercy. In Psalms 89:14, it says “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Christ’s throne.”

“…Lovingkindness and truth go before Him.” (found this online by looking up the phrase “justice and mercy” from Bible) This is all in God’s Word, the Holy Bible Amen.

The church is not too late in telling others about God’s love and truth. To share of His love should not come with the wrong heart or attitude but in knowing the ultimate love of what Christ has done, has revived and changed your personal life, and you want to share of His love and mercy.

What justice He has shown us! We were sinners and Christ sent us His Son so that we would come to the truth that eternal life is found in Him and to live and trust in Him, keep us going in the way we can live.

Sure we will still fall down but God has endless mercy through His Son.

There are times where I’ve fallen apart and felt hopeless. There were times where I thought I didn’t want to be on this earth.

I’ve even (ashamedly) doubted God’s existence before… but I know now that my redeemer lives!

Through His just love we can turn from ways we have thought were the way or habits that were not right and in His strength we can come into place, emotionally but be restored spiritually by His love and tender mercy. We might become hopeless or that we have no reason in life, or are unsure of God.

I thought that way because that was a part of my sin nature. But I am heartbroken that there are people who think that everyday and don’t yet know God.

There is love and mercy to you and your friends you know today! There is seemingly endless joy you can experience here on earth and it is not found in the world but in Jesus Christ. Is that comforting? Amen!

God made right our relationship with Him by giving His Son Jesus for our penalty. He died and rose again bodily and lives today!

None of us deserve His love because none of us are righteous and have been tainted by our sin. But Jesus made a way so that we could find that place one day in Heaven and it is only in believing and trusting in what He did for You (and your friends).

It is so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him as His word. Follow Him. Simple loving words. God blesses any moment you spend with Him (reading the bible for even five to ten minutes, just an example) because He loves you. How comforting is that?

We deserved swift justice but God made a way so we can live for Him.

How righteous and amazing He is! Love and mercy to all who will hear Amen.

It is nearly late, almost 5/12 so this might be inaccurate in a moment. Lately I have been going through tough stuff due to my disability. I was having tough things go on like flashbacks and I nearly let fear and anxiety almost overwhelm me. I am getting better praise God and as long I look to Him in all ways, I can no longer feel discouraged. Praise God for Him and all the things He has taught me and so many others. Thank you Jesus.

Isn’t it tough to trust in God?

Let me rephrase that: isn’t it tough to trust in God because of our sin nature?

Sometimes doubt, being unhappy about our current state, depression, and loneliness get to us…. but none of those things are ideas the Lord gives us.

We can get wrapped in our own world, forgetting about the things that He has told us through His Word and from His people: that He’s always there, He knows the future, and He can meet us where we struggle. And we can trust in Him.

We can do that by holding fast as it says in the book of Philippians.

We are ensured the ability to be blessed by whatever we do for Him. God can do amazing things right now if you want to live for Jesus.

If one wants to live for Jesus what does one do? Well first of all, we have to remember that Christ died for our sin, that we cannot do anything in our power to be in Heaven because it was God that paid for it, not us.

It is God who shows us the way and we just simply need to accept His son into our hearts and we can believe and trust in Him. If we believe then we can be in Heaven because of God’s gift to us.

It was His great love that sent Him to the cross for our punishment. Jesus then rose again and is one day coming back.

There is hope and that is found in Jesus.

Amen?

So the words “hold fast”… I had wondered what that meant.

In the book of Philippians Paul addresses a church that has been disagreeing on certain things. He was wrote letters to the church of “Philippi” to tell them to be of one mind, a body of believers because they make up the body of Christ.

This group of people is united because of God’s love and Christ’s intercession for their sin. The church was fighting over differences in beliefs but what does God say? His word is true. We should know that always because sometimes our hearts even want to change what God says is true.

This kind of thing has been happening everywhere and even in the church today. It’s unfortunate but that is why defending what God says is important when talking to others about Him.

We live in a day and age that is vastly drifting from God and His love. Why are people doing this? Because their hearts are turning from Him.

We must not feel afraid if we want to share God’s Word with others but we must also do it with the right heart. We must stay grounded on God’s Word which is true, not take in the world’s values just to increase member numbers and just simply show the love of Jesus to each other.

Church love is great, I gotta tell ya. When I first came to a new church I wondered why people were so loving toward one another. I was eight and around then just accepted Christ. But as I grew more spiritually and saw that the lifeblood of the church was the “people” and not the “building” I couldn’t get enough of learning about Jesus. I have experienced times of great frustration, things that were going on in my life, and realized I could just give it up to God. I would go through so much some days but I would learn to be more like Christ every day.

A lot of this was because of a wonderful church of people holding onto the Word of truth and living in Christ.

We as a church must hold fast the word of life… but what does that mean?

“Hold fast” means to remain tightly secured.

I thought about a board and a drill fastens a screw into it. The board which is sturdy strong, built well (thank you God, hehe), and keeps that screw held on well.

That strong piece of wood ain’t going to let that screw go anywhere, as long as it doesn’t get removed by the drill for whatever reason. It is fastened there: firm, strong, and can’t be undone.

But sometimes we think “But what if God can’t impact my life?” or “What if these things happening right now are going on because there is no God?”

I say quench that thought from your mind and realize that He is in your heart today!

Sometimes Satan gets us into a corner. But sometimes it is us that makes us doubt and our hearts stray. Sometimes we do this by depending on what we feel (“I’m depressed… can I ever love?) and we crowd our minds with nonsense.

Circumstances also have us feel we should disregard God’s truths. But don’t be discouraged, you have a wonderful God by your side, and Jesus who can help you see a future in Him. Just trust obey, live it out and seek His truth.

Also share the Word with others, and don’t let discouraging words or verbal abuse get you down. Did you know you are blessed when that happens? Because you are like a screw fixed in a firm piece of wood, holding on to His truth.

Once you have Jesus in your life you are secure in Him and nothing you do can separate you from Him. God gave us Jesus to open the door to a relationship to Him.

His Word helps us and talking to Him can do wonderful things you might not see at the moment but, baby, if you’ve done it in the right heart God answers prayer you may not right now believe!

Remain tightly secure in what God says, what you want to do for Him and He can secure you a future. Amen.

I hope I am not doing this just for the coming tradition of Thanksgiving. I don’t know my own heart sometimes. God lead me on this…

Did you know where you live and breathe their might be missionaries all around you? The word “missionary” does not have to deal with just a person who for God in a country or a land they have to get a plane to do the will of God. It’s funny how much we do that sometimes. Maybe we rely on our pastors to be the only ones who “spread the gospel” that phrase being too “ironic” here. Or we go out and have a view point that says, “God knows where these people are. I don’t have to witness because …” fill in the blank for that one.

If we don’t do the commandment that God has attributed to all of us that have become believers out of his grace we do not deserve is that ungrateful of us?

Maybe you just need to adjust your heart when it concerns witnessing or telling others what you believe in hopes they want to receive it.

How do you view being this messenger? Do you have a burden that makes you feel guilty every time you don’t share the message? Do you become afraid of being teased (which is just as bad as being killed for it right? Not really) because you are a believer so you are glad in not telling others about Jesus?

God does not help us if we just sit on our hands and not do what we ought to do. Also God does not speak to us if we don’t read His word. He is glad we spend ANY moment with Him by the bible or by praying or when we share with others, let’s say what we learned about in church to the curious. That gets us blessed when we do that but more importantly God gets to use you for His kingdom as small or as seemingly unimportant those times may seem to us.

And it is so good for us to tell others of the gospel. You know while we were still sinners we must know that Christ died for us. We must remember that God did what He did not so that we could think that our works will get us to heaven (Who got us to heaven?), or that we should get praise and that makes it the only worthwhile reason to do those actions, but that we were deserving of punishment and hell… yet He sent His son who was man and God to die in our place on the cross!

Think about a sacrificial lamb. People believed in God through that. As long as they kept the focus on God during those times they would know God but the ultimate sacrifice which was THE all end all sacrifices Jesus we have power by His grace.

This isn’t just simply believing in God. This is knowing Christ died for us that we, though we don’t deserve His grace (at least I don’t) He died so that we would live. And also that we can learn love by a relationship with Him; our sin separated us His Son bridged the gap that kept us from going to hell and to give us an eternal place in Heaven.

I’d say that is more than enough to be grateful this Thanksgiving. I can give not enough and I hope I never feel it is not enough to give for Christ and just live by walking in Him.

You know when you avoid witnessing you are really missing out? There are wonderful things that can happen as a result and the best one is that glory always, no matter whether your sharing went well or seemingly “unsuccessful” comes to God. His word never comes back void.

And another thing I want to divulge on health. Avoiding witnessing will not do anything to your physical health (you might think “Whew, this is a load off my back!” and think that stress and feelings about having the thought to tell others is now gone) but it will be bad spiritually. Satan might let you be in your comfortable stage but spiritually you are missing out on the blessings of the Lord. Physically you might not get hurt but spiritually you will “die” of starvation!

Let’s give to the mission. Be missionaries of God not to get credit or admiration but out of the gratefulness in the wondrous Savior we collectively share.